Saturday, 2 August 2014

Grain Sack That Doubles as a Solar Powered Water Purifier for the Third World

Grain Sack That Doubles as a Solar Powered Water Purifier for the Third World

Outraged by the existence of so many starving communities with no
access to clean water in many poor countries, three Korean industrial
designers – Jung Uk Park, Myeong Hoon Lee and Dae Youl Lee – created a
special bag that initially is used for delivering the food sent by the
UN and international NGOs to those in need. The idea is that these
organizations replace conventional bags with a Life Sack to ship grains
and other food staples to these people. After the food is stored, the
bag works as a water purifier.
The container uses Solar Water Disinfectant Process (SODIS)
technology to kill organisms in the contaminated liquid through thermal
treatment and UV-A-radiation, which easily penetrates the PVC easily. An
internal filter is able to remove all microorganisms bigger than 5
nanometers. To get an idea of this filter’s efficiency, the bacteria
that causes tuberculosis is 200 nanometers in size.
More than 4,000 children die everyday as a result of diarrhea from
drinking contaminated water; SODIS is a free and effective method for
treating water using plastic bottles and the sun’s UV rays to kill
pathogens responsible for diarrhea. Simply leave a clean plastic
container filled with water in the sun for 6 hours and those bacteria
are destroyed, literally scorched.
Considering that some people walk great distances to get water, the Life
Sack comes with straps so it can confortably be carried as a backpack.
Then they just hang it in the sun and let the magic work itself.